I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9151 

To strengthen the Department of Justice’s enforcement against trade-related 

crimes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2024 

Mrs. HINSON (for herself, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. IVEY, 

Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MORAN, Ms. ROSS, Mr. CLINE, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. KILEY, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. CORREA) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To strengthen the Department of Justice’s enforcement 

against trade-related crimes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting American 

5 Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act 

6 of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 9151 IH

1 (1) TRADE-RELATED CRIMES.—The term 

2 ‘‘trade-related crimes’’ shall be defined as violations 

3 of law that are implicated by criminal activities in 

4 furtherance of the evasion of duties, tariffs, and 

5 other import- and export-related fees, import and ex6 port restrictions, or requirements imposed by the 

7 Tariff Act of 1930, the Trade Expansion Act of 

8 1962, and/or the Trade Act of 1974, each as amend9 ed, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through 

10 Sanctions Act, as well as all other laws and regula11 tions involving criminal activities relating to United 

12 States imports and exports, trade-based money laun13 dering, and smuggling. 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW STRUCTURE TO PROS15 ECUTE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CRIMES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—A task force, named program, or 

17 other similar structure to investigate and prosecute trade18 related crimes, with particular emphasis on violations of 

19 the statutes enumerated in section 4(a)(2), will be estab20 lished within the Criminal Division of the Department of 

21 Justice within 120 days, after availability of appropria22 tions, and coordinated by a supervisory criminal trial at23 torney selected by the Assistant Attorney General of the 

24 Criminal Division or other official designated by the Attor25 ney General. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 9151 IH

1 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—To support this effort, the 

2 Department of Justice shall— 

3 (1) create within the Criminal Division new po4 sitions for criminal trial attorneys and associated 

5 support personnel responsible for leading and coordi6 nating trade-related crime investigations and cases, 

7 including those that may significantly impact more 

8 than one district; 

9 (2) ensure that experienced and technically 

10 qualified criminal prosecutors support this effort; 

11 and 

12 (3) promote and ensure effective interaction 

13 with law enforcement, industry representatives, and 

14 the public in matters relating to trade-related 

15 crimes. 

16 SEC. 4. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF NEW TRADE CRIMES 

17 STRUCTURE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Through the efforts of the task 

19 force, named program, or other structure identified in sec20 tion 3(a), the Department of Justice shall accomplish each 

21 of the following: 

22 (1) Increase the capabilities and capacity of its 

23 Criminal Division to prosecute trade-related crimes. 

24 (2) Increase the number of trade-related crimes 

25 being investigated and prosecuted pursuant but not 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 9151 IH

1 limited to health, safety, financial, and economic 

2 trade-related crimes under titles 13, 15, 18, and 21, 

3 United States Code, including but not limited to— 

4 (A) 13 U.S.C. 305; 

5 (B) 15 U.S.C. 2614–15; 

6 (C) 18 U.S.C. 371; 

7 (D) 18 U.S.C. 541; 

8 (E) 18 U.S.C. 542; 

9 (F) 18 U.S.C. 543; 

10 (G) 18 U.S.C. 545; 

11 (H) 18 U.S.C. 546; 

12 (I) 18 U.S.C. 554; 

13 (J) 18 U.S.C. 1001; 

14 (K) 18 U.S.C. 1341; 

15 (L) 18 U.S.C. 1343; 

16 (M) 18 U.S.C. 1349; 

17 (N) 18 U.S.C. 1956; 

18 (O) 18 U.S.C. 1957; 

19 (P) 18 U.S.C. 2320; and 

20 (Q) 21 U.S.C. 331. 

21 For the purposes of this Act, this list does not in22 clude violations of national security-related laws and 

23 regulations, including the Arms Export Control Act 

24 (22 U.S.C. 2771 et seq.), International Emergency 

25 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), ExVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Aug 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9151.IH H9151

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 9151 IH

1 port Control and Reform Act (50 U.S.C. 4801 et 

2 seq.), and the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 

3 US.C. 4305(b)). 

4 (3) Participate in basic and advanced training 

5 events with Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. 

6 Customs and Border Protection, and other Federal 

7 agencies and provide technical assistance, where ap8 propriate, to Homeland Security Investigations and 

9 U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other Fed10 eral agencies with respect to the investigation and 

11 prosecution of trade-related crimes. 

12 (4) Develop multijurisdictional responses and 

13 partnerships with respect to trade-related crimes 

14 through informational, administrative, and techno15 logical support to other Federal agencies and agen16 cies of countries that are trading partners of the 

17 United States, as a means for such agencies to ac18 quire the necessary knowledge, personnel, and spe19 cialized equipment to investigate and prosecute 

20 trade-related crimes. 

21 (5) Participate in nationally coordinated inves22 tigations in any case in which the Attorney General 

23 determines such participation to be necessary, as 

24 permitted by the available resources of the Depart25 ment of Justice. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 9151 IH

1 (6) Ensure that all components that enforce 

2 against trade-related crimes regularly consult with 

3 each other. 

4 (b) ABSENCE OF EXCLUSION OF PURSUING OTHER

5 REMEDIES.—Litigation by the Criminal Division shall not 

6 preclude additional criminal prosecution or civil action 

7 against trade-related violations. Nothing in this statute 

8 shall prevent the Criminal Division, Civil Division, and 

9 other Department of Justice components from pursuing 

10 enforcement action where appropriate. 

11 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 The Attorney General, in consultation with the Sec13 retary of Homeland Security, shall submit to the Com14 mittee on the Judiciary, Committee on Ways and Means, 

15 and Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep16 resentatives, and the Committee on the Judiciary and 

17 Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on the work 

18 of the Department of Justice with respect to investigation 

19 and enforcement of trade-related crimes. Specifically, the 

20 report shall— 

21 (1) be submitted not later than one year after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

23 thereafter, not later than February 1 of each year 

24 that begins after the submission of the first report; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 9151 IH

1 (2) include annual statistics on the volume of 

2 publicly charged trade-related crimes and indict3 ments, as defined in section 2; 

4 (3) include a summary as to how the funds ap5 propriated for trade-related crimes were utilized in 

6 the prior reporting period, including staff and oper7 ating expenses; and 

8 (4) provide an estimate of any additional fund9 ing needed to combat trade-related crimes. 

10 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro12 priated to the Attorney General $20,000,000 for fiscal 

13 year 2025 to carry out this Act. Of sums appropriated, 

14 at least 80 percent shall be used by the Criminal Division 

15 to support criminal prosecution of trade crimes as defined 

16 in this Act, including salaries and expenses necessary to 

17 hire and train investigatory and prosecutorial personnel, 

18 develop multijurisdictional and multiagency partnerships, 

19 and conduct enforcement actions. 

20 (b) OTHER CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AND CIVIL EN21 FORCEMENT.—Remaining sums may be used by the De22 partment of Justice to support criminal prosecution of 

23 trade crimes by other components and civil enforcement. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 9151 IH

1 (c) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts appro2 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations 

3 under subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS